Cook-Out: Decent food and unbeatable price

The Roanoke Times does not usually review fast-food restaurants. However, since Cook-Out is completely new to the New River Valley and has been met with much enthusiasm, I decided to check it out.

The new Cook-Out on South Main Street in Blacksburg lives in a renovated Hardee’s building. The exterior is somewhat loud, with bold letters and an even bolder paint job. The interior is completely consumed by the expansive menu — a myriad of sandwiches, wraps, hot dogs, and sides. Although the menu is color-coordinated, its sheer immensity and lack of photos render it rather confusing.

Although we arrived at 11:45 a.m. on a weekday, the place was already swamped with a healthy lunch crowd. The line to the register moved very fast, and navigating the menu was a bit tricky on the first visit.

After ordering and paying, we were given our respective tickets with our order numbers, and we snagged the last free table.

I had a simple barbecue platter that consisted of a heap of pulled pork, some fries, hush puppies and slaw for an unbelievable $3.99.

My guests had burgers and a chicken wrap with assorted fries and sides. I believe we all agreed on the quality.

The pork was tasty enough — light on the smoke flavor and a bit heavy on the salt. It left me insatiably thirsty the rest of the afternoon.

The burgers earned a solid “meh” from my friends. The fried chicken in the wrap was more breading than chicken, but it was cheap and tasty.

The fries were decent — not good, but not bad either. Both the slaw and the hush puppies were rather forgetful, although I do seem to feel like a happy kid every time I eat a hush puppy, regardless of quality.

Since much of the chatter about Cook-Out revolves around the shakes, I picked up a Hershey’s chocolate and an Oreo shake.

At $2.19 a pop, the shakes are in line with the rest of the Cook-Out pricing. The Oreo shake was tasty, with little bits of crunchy Oreo in a drinkably thick, creamy shake. The chocolate shake was a bit shy on the Hershey’s and a bit heavy on the ice, leading to a slightly grainy texture. I will have to return and give their java drinks a once-over during an early morning, low-traffic visit.

While none of us was particularly taken with the quality of the food, the price and the quantity were impressive. Cook-Out offers a wide variety of hot food at an unbeatably low price. The service is fast and professional and made to move the large crowds that run through each day.

Plan to get there early if you can — there is rarely enough seating to handle the staff’s efficiency.

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